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How much paid parental leave is an employee entitled to annually?

Emma-Jane Flannery

Arthur Cox

From 5 April 2015, an employee is entitled to 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave for each child and adopted child, up to their 18th birthday. The limit on how much parental leave each parent can take in a year is 4 weeks for each child (unless the employer agrees otherwise). Furthermore, an employee must take parental leave as whole weeks (e.g. 1 week or 2 weeks) rather than individual days, unless the employer agrees otherwise or if the employee’s child is disabled. The employee is not required to all the leave at once. A ‘week’ equals the length of time an employee normally works over 7 days.

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